BBC Launches New Web TV Trials
The BBC is to launch a new web TV trial, dubbed TV Plus, to explore new ways in which to engage audiences across broadband platforms.
The trial will launch with content from BBC Two’s new series of The Apprentice, running across the channel’s new look website and providing catch-up programming as well as ‘must see’ moments from future episodes.
Viewers using the new service will be able to rate each programme, providing immediate feedback to the BBC on content including Sir Alan Sugar’s infamous apprentice firings.
Bonus video content will be made available exclusively online, with launch material including candidates’ auditions for The Apprentice.
In addition to The Apprentice, video content for the service will be drawn from across BBC Two’s schedule, with the Corporation promising a “regularly updated mix of entertaining clips, sequences and specially edited short-form videos.”
Explaining the need for an expanded online video offering, Roly Keating, controller of BBC Two, said: “The broadband audience is becoming bigger and more demanding by the day, and our new-look website is designed to make the most of the fluid mix of video and text that users increasingly expect.
“I believe it has the potential to transform our relationship with the audience, bringing them closer to the channel than ever before and offering ways to engage with our programmes that were impossible in the narrowband age. Our exciting trial with The Apprentice is the perfect starting-point for this journey of discovery.”
The latest web TV activity follows the BBC’s trial of a peer-to-peer video delivery system amongst 5,000 participants (see BBC Enters Second Phase Of Web TV Trial). It’s interactive Media Player (iMP) software is eventually intended to allow on-demand access to all of the BBC’s content, as well as giving access to the Corporation’s extensive archive of material.
BBC director general Mark Thompson unveiled plans to launch a public version of the software, provisionally named MyBBCplayer, with live simulcasts of BBC One and Two, at last year’s Edinburgh International TV Festival (see Thompson Announces On Demand Programming From BBC).
The BBC’s increased activity in online TV delivery follows a clearer focus by rivals on video on-demand content. Last month saw Channel 4 unveil its new video player software with the launch of its first broadband-specific film programme (see Channel 4 Launches First Online Film Programming).
The new web-based system allows video to be shown alongside additional information and web links, which the broadcaster claims delivers a more complete solution for users.
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